Stopping to Breathe
by gabijoe
Summary: The story begins where young Marceline had recently been abandoned by the now insane Simon. Now Marceline has to accept the thought of being alone, and the thought of living only to survive.
1. Hunting for the Hunter

"Simon!" Marceline screamed waking herself up. She had dreamed about him again, they were running, he was practically dragging her, and he kept singing to himself. He sung her the song that comforted him when the crown took control of his mind. Everything around Marceline was a blur, but she wanted to know what they were running from, who they were running from. Was it the humans now turned into radioactive creatures? Was it some kind of ravaging animal that could tear them apart? No. Marceline saw Simon behind her laughing wildly. His laugh piercing into her ear, and creating hot tears that burned her eyes.

She sat up on her cot sweating cold, sick sweat; her black hair was sticking to her face. "Simon," she whispered feeling tears well up in her eyes. She missed him so much it made her sick, she was all alone, and she couldn't handle the thought of that anymore.

Marceline looked up at the sky and saw the sun coming up from the rubble mountain, so she decided to wipe her tears and start her day. Even though young Marceline was only 11 years old, she made herself prepared for any attack. She strapped a knife around her boot, and tucked a gun under her shirt. She told herself she wasn't going to die, she knew she had to find Simon first.

She rolled up her cot and placed another gun inside the cot and threw it over her shoulder. She grabbed for Hambo and kept him in her arms, he needed to be close. She needed to keep moving, she had to find a place habitable to live. The morning was cold and little Marceline was still dressed for the summer.

Everywhere she moved she ran.

Her surroundings were blurred as she ran into an abandoned clothing store and grabbed a jacket. She had to be fast and quiet, the humans were always sleeping but always ready to feast. She ran out of the store and climbed the rumble from the war. Her head was filled with words that jumbled into a million thoughts and made her head pound as she ran.

Anything she tried to think of didn't make sense, and soon she felt tears running down her face again as she climbed a rocky cliff. She had ran far, about a mile or two and she needed a break. "Water," she said trying to think of one thing at a time. She pulled herself over the edge of the cliff and grabbed for her water container. It was finally daybreak, and Marceline was ready for bed. She was exhausted, and winded. She no longer wanted to do anything. But she couldn't think that way, if she did then she wouldn't survive.

The water was cool going down her warm parched throat. "A tree would look pretty here," Marceline said to herself as she touched the wrecked Earth. She grabbed an acorn from her pocket and dug a small hole with her hands. "Making your way in the world today takes everything you got," Marceline sang placing the small acorn in to the ground. But, all she thought about was her friend; and his favorite song. "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name," She continued to sing watering the soil.

And she kept singing until the sun was high in the sky


	2. Wild berries

Snow glistened the grass as Marceline continued her trek. She no longer talked to herself, nor thought about Simon. She kept her mind blank, and her emotions hidden. It had been weeks since she had seen a creature, so Marceline decided to walk and take in her surroundings. She had noticed things were beginning to regrow even without her help, she smiled at patched of grass and little sticks that had taken root into the earth. But this cold winter was stopping nature from growing, and it made Marceline upset.

At nightfall, she set up her cot in a small cave and decided to make a fire. Winter was coming quickly and there was no way she could stop it. The fire was small, but it heated the cave just fine. Marceline pulled her cot to the corner of the cave just behind a large bolder. It was warm and the echo was loud incase something or someone wanted to check out the fire young Marceline had created. She laid down and hugged Hambo tight before falling asleep.

She dreamt of nothing. Everything around her was dark, and she heard the distant cracking of the fire. She hardly slept, jumping up every time she heard the wind blew or a cricket chirped. Marceline was always ready to attack, with her knife in her hand and her guns not to far away. Finally, when the sun began to rise Marceline stayed awake and watched it climb over the horizon. Watching the sun rise and set was the only thing that kept her sane.

Being alone made her feel crazy, and she accepted feeling crazy - sometimes.

Marceline packed up her things and let out the fire when the sun was above her in the sky, but the sun did not help how cold it was. Today had seemed to be more cold than the day before, winter was coming fast.

She walked east because it was farthest from where she had been with the creatures, and anywhere was better than with the creatures.

When she finally passed the rolling hills, Marceline found a forest in front of her. She couldn't believe what she had found. A piece of nature had been untouched by the explosion, and was still thriving. She opened her sack where she kept Hambo and a few extra acorns, and began filling it with pinecones. She smiled and danced through the forest as she saw birds chirping and squirrels running through the trees. She had found it, she had found her sanctuary.

Marceline picked a few wild berries and sat down under a tree to eat them. The berries were sweet and stained her green pants purple, but she didn't care, she was eating something nature had made. As she ate her berries she heard movement in the bushes in front of her. She thought it might have been a squirrel or a snake, but she couldn't be so carefree. Marceline dropped her berries and pulled out her knife being very quiet. The bushes moved again and then kept moving. Marceline's heart started beating rapidly as she waited for the creature to reveal itself.

She saw a little animal nose stick out of the bushes, so Marceline relaxed knowing it wasn't a creature. A young pup walked out of the bushes and stared at Marceline. Marceline wanted to smile at the adorable pup in front of her, but instead her heart started beating rapidly again.

Where was its mother?

The young wolf began to walk towards Marceline, she knew it wanted her berries. "Stay back," Marceline warned, but the pup only looked up at her and continued walking towards her. She didn't want to kill the poor animal, but she didn't want to be attacked by its mother either. The wolf got to Marceline's feet and then stopped. Marceline looked around waiting for its mother to come leaping from the bushes, but nothing happened. Then Marceline realized the young pup was alone.

She picked up the berries and held out her hand, the young wolf happily ate the berries from her hand, and then licked her on the cheek. Marceline knew she couldn't let the young wolf stay alone, it needed someone to care after it. She petted the beast and the wolf responded with a nuzzle on her knee. She picked more wild berries from the bush beside her and fed it to the wolf.

As the sun began to set Marceline knew that she needed to go find shelter for the cold night ahead. She packed some more berries and petted the wolf who had fallen asleep on her lap. She had wasted a whole day just laying around, and she hated herself for it. She had moved a few miles but it wasn't enough. Marceline stood up and the pup wagged its tail excited and stared up at her. Marceline decided that if the wolf followed her she would keep it, and if it didn't, Marceline would continue her trek for somewhere to live.

She began walking and heard little feet behind her and she sighed relieved. At the edge of the forest, Marceline found a small dug out filled with a pond and a small cave inside the walls of the pond. Marceline climbed down and slid inside the cave. She dropped all her things and then held out her hands for the pup to jump in her arms. She laid out her cot and blanket and grabbed Hambo from her sack. Even though she didn't do much, she found herself exhausted. She laid down on her cot and the pup laid down with her snugging as close with her as she could. His warmth was welcoming to Marceline as she tried to get comfortable.

As she tried to fall asleep, Marceline realized the young pup needed a name.

Companion? No.

White? No.

Wild berry? No.

And then a name came to her head, at first she pushed it out ashamed that her mind even thought of the word, but the more she thought the more the named came to her mind. "I'm going to name you Simon, young pup." and the wolf she had named Simon turned to her and licked her in the face.


End file.
